Featured Stories
Campaign funding and the veto power of the plutocrats
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
"A tiny number of Americans — .26 percent — give more than $200 to a congressional campaign. .05 percent give the maximum amount to any congressional candidate. .01 percent give more than $10,000 in any election cycle. And .000063 percent — 196 Americans — have given more than 80 percent of the super-PAC money spent in the presidential elections so far."
So writes Lawrence Lessig for The Atlantic in Big Campaign Spending: Government by the 1%:
Here's what we must come to see: America has lost the capacity to govern. On a wide range of critical issues — from global warming to tax reform, from effective financial regulation to real health-care change, from the deficit to defense spending — we have lost the capacity to do anything other than suffer through a miserable status quo. If there is a ship of state, its rudder has been lost. We are drifting. We can't change course. And eventually, and with absolute certainty, in waters such as these, a drifting ship will sink.
The cause of this drift is clear, and it is not "polarization." Polarization — of the political class at least — is real. In Congress, it is worse than at any time since the Civil War.
But polarization is just a symptom of a more fundamental disease. It is fueled by this more fundamental disease. But it is this disease we must understand — and cure — if we're ever to restore this Republic.
That disease is just this: because of the way we fund the campaigns that determine our elections, we give the tiniest fraction of America the power to veto any meaningful policy change. Not just change on the left but also change on the right. Because of the structure of influence that we have allowed to develop, the tiniest fraction of the one percent have the effective power to block reform desired by the 99-plus percent.
Exhibit ‘A’ in the case to overturn Citizens United – Sheldon Adelson trying to buy the American presidency with foreign money
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A ProPublica investigative report by Matt Isaacs, Lowell Bergman and Stephen Engelberg, Inside the Investigation of Leading GOP Money Man Sheldon Adelson that was co-published with PBS’ “Frontline”, should be Exhibit "A" in the case to overturn Citizens United v. FEC (excerpts):
[Las Vegas Sands Casino onwer Sheldon] Adelson pushed his chips to the center of the table, keeping his nerve even as his company teetered on the brink of bankruptcy in late 2008.
The Macau bet paid off, propelling Adelson into the ranks of the mega-rich and underwriting his role as the largest Republican donor in the 2012 campaign, providing tens of millions of dollars to Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and other GOP causes.
Now, some of the methods Adelson used in Macau to save his company and help build a personal fortune estimated at $25 billion have come under expanding scrutiny by federal and Nevada investigators, according to people familiar with both inquiries.
Internal email and company documents, disclosed here for the first time, show that Adelson instructed a top executive to pay about $700,000 in legal fees to Leonel Alves, a Macau legislator whose firm was serving as an outside counsel to Las Vegas Sands.
The company's general counsel and an outside law firm warned that the arrangement could violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It is unknown whether Adelson was aware of these warnings. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act bars American companies from paying foreign officials to "affect or influence any act or decision" for business gain.
Federal investigators are looking at whether the payments violate the statute because of Alves' government and political roles in Macau, people familiar with the inquiry said. Investigators were also said to be separately examining whether the company made any other payments to officials. An email by Alves to a senior company official, disclosed by the Wall Street Journal, quotes him as saying "someone high ranking in Beijing" had offered to resolve two vexing issues — a lawsuit by a Taiwanese businessman and Las Vegas Sands' request for permission to sell luxury apartments in Macau. Another email from Alves said the problems could be solved for a payment of $300 million. There is no evidence the offer was accepted. Both issues remain unresolved.
Imagine Schools: The crumbling accelerates
July 17, 2012
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by David Safier NOTE: This is the tenth in a series of recent posts examining Imagine Schools. (Here are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.) If you have ideas or information to add, please leave comments at the end of the post or email me at safier@schooltales.net. I keep all email … Read more
Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio goin’ all Birther on us (again)
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: As I said in the previous post, Arizona has more than its fair share of embarrassing politicians somehow elected to public office. But another contender for the title of "most embarrassing Arizona politician" is Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio, who like Rep. Trent Franks, is a regular contributor/purveyor of World Net Daily wingnut conspiracy … Read more
McCarthyite religious bigot Rep. Trent Franks shames Arizona (again)
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Arizona has more than its fair share of embarrassing politicians somehow elected to public office. But a contender for the title of "most embarrassing Arizona politician" is Rep. Trent Franks. This guy is such a rank embarrassment, the rest of Arizona has the right to demand from the constituents of his district "what the hell were you thinking?" Don't make the rest of Arizona come to your district to beat some sense into you. . . get rid of this clown!
Back in October 2009, "A quartet of Republican Congressmen, including Arizona's own Reps. Trent Franks and John Shadegg, convened a press conference this week to demand that the House Sergeant at Arms investigate the organization Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), because this advocacy organization does what every other advocacy organization does, but they do it while being Muslim."
They claimed that "(CAIR) is infiltrating Capitol Hill with undercover interns, and they're basing the charge on a World Net Daily-published book that itself is based on the work of a man who posed as a Muslim to infiltrate CAIR as … an intern!" Reps. Trent Franks an John Shadegg engage in McCarthyism, religious bigotry againt Muslim-Americans:
Rachel Maddow and Eugene Robinson put this loony right conspiracy into it's proper context:
RACHEL MADDOW: Do you think that the secret ploy to "Islamize" America starts with interns?
EUGENE ROBINSON: (laughing) Yeah, that's where you want to start. You know the interns, they're the one's who control the real power on Capitol Hill. If you get the interns then you've got the whole city, and then you've got the world! You know this would be funny, it actually brings to mind that other great old movie Doctor Strangelove and General Jack D. Ripper and the plot he perceived to zap and impurity all our precious bodily fluids, that's kind of the way they sounded. But it's not funny, because it's dangerous and bigoted…
George Bush after 9/11, from the beginning, tried to make clear to everyone that the war on terror that he was prepared to wage was not a war against Islam, that this was not a religious war, that this was not a clash of civilizations, yet World Net Daily clearly didn't get the memo, and nor, amazingly, did some members of the U.S. Congress, and this is really scary stuff in that sense.
Planned Parenthood sues to block defunding of women’s health clinics
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Our lawless state legislature and Governor are like a full employment program for lawyers and judges. Tea-Publican authoritarianism and religious extremism leads them to violate the law and the constitution constantly. How many times do they have to be beat down by the Arizona Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court?
A lawsuit was filed last week to challenge the unconstitutional abortion bill passed by our lawless legislature. On Monday, another lawsuit was filed to challenge the unconstitutional attempt by our lawless legislature to defund Planned Parenthood women's health clinics. Planned Parenthood wants court to block law forbidding Medicaid funding to abortion providers – East Valley Tribune:
Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge Monday to block a new law which would bar it from getting state Medicaid funds.
The complaint says the Legislature acted illegally in approving a measure which forbids any funding from the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's health insurance for the poor, to any organization which also provides abortions. It asks Judge Neil Wake to prohibit Arizona from implementing the law as scheduled on Aug. 2 and, eventually, to declare it void and unenforceable.
* * *
According to the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood has more than 66,000 patient visits a year, including about 3,000 from those eligible for AHCCCS. Services provided include pap smears, breast exams, contraceptives and tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases.
It also provides abortions at five of its 13 Arizona locations.
Current federal law precludes Medicaid funding for abortions except in narrow circumstances.
Ballot challenge filed against Open Elections/Open Government Act initiative
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Lawyer/lobbyist Michael Liburdi for the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust is also representing the GOP-backed Save Our Vote Committee in a ballot challenge against the Open Elections/Open Government Act initiative. What can I say, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Open primary foes file lawsuit to keep measure off Arizona … Read more
Caught on ‘Kiss-Cam’
July 17, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama were taking in Monday night's USA Basketball exhibition game when the Verizon Center's "Kiss Cam" turned its eye their way. Their image on the huge arena screen prompted the crowd to cheer — a not-so-subtle hint that Obama plant one on the first lady.
Both smiled, but Obama just put his arm around his wife as the game resumed. That cautious reaction brought some boos.
Obama got a do-over later in the game when the Kiss Cam swung back his way. This time he delivered, giving Mrs. Obama a big kiss on the lips. And a peck on the forehead for good measure. And the crowd cheered.
Video below the fold.
